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The results of the Battle of Changjin Lake to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea shocked the world and made the United States feel the heroism and determination of the Chinese people.
The Volunteers beat the U.S. Army back to the 38th Parallel in one fell swoop, allowing the U.S. Army to see the true strength of the Chinese Army and making them realize that the U.S. Army is not invincible.
In the face of the volunteers who were advancing all the way, the United States relented and issued an appeal for an armistice.
In this regard, Chairman Mao saw the truth at a glance and bluntly said that US imperialism is the same as Chiang Kai-shek.
Why did Chairman Mao come to this conclusion? Is there any other purpose behind the US call for an armistice?
Click to pay attention and walk into the story behind the battle of Changjin Lake.
The Battle of Changjin Lake
Changjin Lake is located in the northeast of North Korea, is the largest lake in the northeast of North Korea, just between the Gunjeolyeong Mountains and the Wolf Forest Mountains, surrounded by lofty mountains, rugged terrain, with an average altitude of about 1,300 meters.
The road to this place is narrow, the trees are luxuriant, the population is sparse, the Changjin Lake in summer is quite normal, but in the winter, the temperature here can reach minus 27 degrees, the time for the volunteers to enter the DPRK is exactly at the end of October, and the second battle is in November, which is in the cold period of Changjin Lake.
In particular, after the volunteers entered the DPRK, they encountered extremely cold weather that had not been encountered in North Korea for 59 years, and the lowest temperature at night was nearly minus 40 degrees.
Soon after entering the DPRK, the Volunteer Army began its first campaign and won the victory. The victory in the first battle made it clear to us that the US military is not terrible, that they also have weaknesses, and that as long as the volunteers are united, they can defeat US imperialism.
After the first battle, the US military did not feel that they were inferior in skill, especially the commander-in-chief MacArthur, who was still "making amends" for himself; in his opinion, the victory of the Volunteers was due to several favorable conditions, and the PLA would not have been able to win the second campaign without these conditions.
For example, the war began soon after the Volunteers entered Korea, and in MacArthur's view, China could not support the next war and must finish this war as soon as possible, so the first war would be fierce, and it would not necessarily be in the later period. In addition, in the first battle, we were more against the South Korean puppet army and other United Nations forces, and the actual battle with the American army was limited, so MacArthur still had a disdainful attitude towards the volunteers.
The second battle after the Volunteers entered Korea soon began, and this time the enemy finally showed our true strength.
On November 27, 1950, the mainland army planned to launch an attack on the enemy troops marching there, but the American army did not expect that the volunteer army was slowly approaching.
Therefore, the US troops did not take precautions when they marched, marched at a normal pace, and rested normally at night, and the volunteers took advantage of this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the 1st and 7th Marine Divisions under the command of the 10th Army of the US Army.
The 27th Army of the Volunteer Army attacked Xinxingli and Liutanli, and launched a surprise attack on the enemy camp in the vicinity that night, surrounding the enemy in Xinxingli and Neidongsi, and for a time there was a tendency to continue to attack inside.
The 20th Army launched a surprise attack on the enemy in Xiajieyuli, Gutuli and Shecangli, quickly cut off the connection between the enemy's multiple camps, and surrounded the enemy from 3 directions, cutting off the road north of Tuguli, which led to the fact that the enemy army here could neither reinforce the troops trapped in other areas, nor could the reinforcements from other areas reach here, and it was really isolated to the point of no help.
After a fierce battle, the Volunteers succeeded in cutting a large part of the US military camp and isolating the US military position.
The enemy fought to the death with the Volunteers, and was finally defeated by the Volunteers.
The war was fought on the 29th, and the generals of the 9th Corps thought that when it was time to adjust the deployment, we could first concentrate our forces on fighting the weak enemy, and then find an opportunity to continue to annihilate the remaining enemy.
The generals of the Volunteer Army analyzed the trapped US military camps in Xinxingli, Liutanli, Xiajieyuli and other places, and everyone unanimously decided to concentrate their efforts on annihilating the 31st Regiment of the 7th Division of the US Army in Xinxingli first.
This regiment is not simple, they are also known as the "Polar Bear Regiment", one of the "ace" units in the US Marine Corps, after the "October Revolution" in the Soviet Union. It was also because of this special experience that the regiment was given the nickname "Polar Bear Regiment".
Every soldier in the "Polar Bear Regiment" is not an ordinary person, most of them participated in World War II, have extremely rich combat experience, and are also the most famous troops in the United States back then.
Campaign results
Although it is somewhat difficult to select the Volunteer Army as the "Polar Bear Regiment" in the face of the target, the Volunteer Army is not afraid of any "polar bear".
On the evening of the 30th, the forces of the two divisions of the 27th Army of the Volunteer Army gathered and adopted the tactics of encirclement and assault and blockade on all sides to launch an attack on the "Polar Bear Regiment".
The battle continued until the early morning of the next day, and the vanguard of the Volunteer Army had broken through the forward positions of the American troops, compressing them into a small area in Xinxingli.
The enemy did not expect the volunteers to fight so bravely, so they could only keep retreating, especially our army launched a surprise attack and encirclement of them, which led to the "Polar Bear Regiment" suffering a heavy blow and being beaten so that they did not know how to fight back.
Seeing that it could not be defeated, the US military began to take advantage of its strong mechanical characteristics, and under the cover of more than 40 planes, used tanks to open the way and fled to the south.
Where are the volunteers willing to let go of this group of enemies in vain, so everyone hurriedly took advantage of the favorable terrain to encircle and chase the "Polar Bear Regiment", except for about 200 people who fled into Xiajieyuli, most of them were annihilated in Xinxingli, which was a great victory for the Volunteers to face the US ace "Polar Bear Regiment" in direct battle.
In this battle, the 27th Army of the Ninth Corps not only completely annihilated the "Polar Bear Regiment" that the US military was proud of, but also killed the commanders Colonel McLean and Colonel Feith, and even captured a large amount of US supplies, ranging from heavy machinery and materials such as automobiles, tanks, and artillery to canned food.
After the volunteers completely annihilated the "Polar Bear Regiment" on the battlefield, they also brought back their regimental flags, which are still displayed in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.
After the news of the total annihilation of the "Polar Bear Regiment" came out, there was a burst of joy and excitement in the volunteers, which greatly boosted the morale of the volunteers, but the US troops on the other side were not so happy.
They didn't expect that the ace Marine Army, which they were proud of, would be so vulnerable in front of the Volunteers, and even the commander was killed, which shows how terrifying the combat capability of the Volunteers is, and the hearts of the American troops began to hesitate, especially the 10th Army of the US Army on the Eastern Front began to shake across the board.
The commander of the US 10th Army ordered the army to continue to carry out a general retreat to the Hamhung and Hungnan areas according to the plan, and at the same time ordered the 1st Marine Division to immediately shrink the troops in Liutanli to Xiajieyuli, contact the US 3rd Army, and break through to the south with their response.
We had long expected that the U.S. troops would flee south, and we couldn't give them this opportunity, the 59th Division of the 20th Army of the Volunteer Army has been sticking to the first-line high ground of Eagle Ridge, even if the U.S. Army has a strong desire to break through, but under the siege of the Volunteer Army, there are still heavy casualties.
Unfortunately, at the critical moment, the U.S. troops in Xiajieyu also launched an attack, causing the 59th Division to suffer from the enemy on its back, and finally reached the point of running out of ammunition and food, and the position was also broken through by the enemy.
I don't know if I was scared or how, the speed of the US army's escape was very fast, the volunteer soldiers were braving frostbite, hunger, and hesitation, and the temperature in the Changjin Lake area was too cold, and our non-combat attrition was very serious.
Even though our situation was so grim, the volunteers still pursued the inescapable American troops in the Changjin Lake area.
On December 7, the 26th Army launched an attack on the remnants of the 1st Marine Division in the Xiajieyuli area and successfully annihilated it. However, up to this time, there were still a large number of remnants of the US army in the run, the 26th Army was in hot pursuit, on the 12th, the remnants of the US army fled to Wulaoli, the 26th Army launched a pursuit operation, and on the 17th successfully liberated Hamhung.
At this time of the battle, the U.S. military probably understood that they could not escape the pursuit of the volunteers when they escaped on land, so they began to consider a plan for retreating by sea.
The U.S. military began to mobilize warships and transport vessels in an attempt to evacuate the remaining troops from the sea. By the 24th, nearly 300 naval warships docked near the port of Hungnam, and the US troops hurriedly boarded the ships to flee for their lives, and fled to Busan from the sea in confusion.
The Volunteers successfully recovered the port of Wonsan, the ports in the Hungnam area, and the coastal ports, and the second battle ended perfectly, and the Volunteers made remarkable achievements in the war.
The results of this campaign far exceeded our expectations, annihilating a total of 36,000 United Nations troops, including about 24,000 American troops.
In addition to this, a large amount of trophies were captured, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of various kinds, more than 3,000 cars, about 200 tanks and armored vehicles, and even airplanes, which largely compensated for the lack of equipment of our army.
The victory in the Battle of Changjin Lake was a major victory for the Chinese Volunteers in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In this battle, the volunteers overcame many difficulties with tenacious perseverance and firm conviction and finally won the victory.
If we want to talk about the biggest victory in this war, it is to completely annihilate an entire regiment of US troops, knock the US troops back to the 38th parallel in one fell swoop, and fundamentally turn the tide of the war.
Chairman Mao's comments
After the battle, this result shocked the world, especially the Americans, and the war not only made the United States feel the bravery and determination of the Chinese people, but also made the arrogant United States begin to panic.
For this reason, at his news conference, Truman even threatened to consider using nuclear weapons against China, and these words made the CPC leaders, especially Chairman Mao, very angry.
However, this statement of the United States is just to intimidate us, after all, China is not in a hurry, but other countries are beginning to be anxious, and once the United States uses nuclear weapons, it will definitely lead to the continuous expansion of the current occupation.
A large number of European countries have not yet come out of the shadow of World War II, and they cannot stand another war, so many European countries have called on the United States not to use the atomic bomb, they are worried that the use of the atomic bomb will lead to the end of the Soviet Union, and the outbreak of World War III is unknown.
Under the "advice" of the United Nations forces, Truman reluctantly agreed to "not use the atomic bomb," but seeing that the US troops could not defeat the volunteers on the battlefield, Truman was also anxious, so he was ready to use a method that could not only save face but also stop the war, for example, the US military and political leaders put forward several principles, such as not sending additional troops to Korea, maintaining the stability of the 38th parallel, and restoring the state of the 38th parallel to the station.
Just after the United States made a strategic decision, 13 Asian countries suddenly issued a call for a "cease-fire." It is very clear that there is no shadow of the United States behind this, after all, the Philippines is among the 13 countries, and they are also members of the "United Nations Army."
In December 1950, the Indian ambassador to China submitted to China a joint initiative of 13 countries, in which it was hoped that the two sides would first cease fire at the 38th parallel and then resolve the Korean issue peacefully through negotiations. He even bluntly said that if China promises not to exceed the 38th parallel, we will get the support of these 13 countries.
In this regard, Chairman Mao saw at a glance that the Americans were planning behind him, so the Chinese ambassador raised several questions, why did these 13 countries not stand up when the US military crossed the 38th parallel, and now seeing that China has an advantage on the battlefield, they suddenly stand up and let us stop the war?
If China and the DPRK really listen to their nonsense and do not exceed the 38th parallel, it will just give the US military a chance to breathe, and when they are repaired, they may cross the 38th parallel and attack us.
For this reason, Chairman Mao also made a special trip back to Kim Il Sung and said of the Korean Campaign: "I fought one battle, two battles, and I won, but it is not enough, and we have to continue to fight, if you dare to cross the 38th parallel, then why can't I cross the 38th parallel?"
Speaking of which, Chairman Mao thought of Chiang Kai-shek at the beginning, while pretending to be warm and friendly and inviting him to Chongqing for negotiations, in fact, he was secretly mobilizing troops to prepare for a civil war, so Chairman Mao believed that the US imperialists, like Chiang Kai-shek, had no reliable promises and agreements, and they had to be subdued on the battlefield so that they could remember the lessons of this time.
So, Chairman Mao called Peng Dehuai, asking him to continue to send troops to advance and not give the enemy a chance to breathe. Under the command of Chairman Mao, the Volunteer Army marched all the way, breaking through several lines of defense of the US army in succession and crossing the 38th parallel.
Facts have proved that Chairman Mao's vision was correct, and no promise can compare to victory on the battlefield.
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